NSTEMI: 📉 Less Ischemia, Less Reintervention
Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'
🚨 New Evidence in NSTEMI Care! 🫀 The SLIM Trial shows that FFR-guided complete revascularization during the index procedure in patients with NSTEMI and multivessel disease significantly reduces death, MI, stroke, and repeat PCI compared to culprit-only PCI. 🎯 Key win? Fewer revascularizations, better outcomes — physiology beats anatomy again. 📚 Published in JAMA, presented at #ESC2025 🔗 Read more: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2025.16189 #Cardiology #NSTEMI #FFR #InterventionalCardiology #EvidenceBasedMedicine #SLIMTrial
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Real-World Rx 💊, Real Results 📉: GLP-1 Agents Slash HFpEF Risk
Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'
💥 Practice-Changing Evidence in HFpEF! 💥 In a real-world cohort of 97,000+ patients with obesity & type 2 diabetes, semaglutide and tirzepatide reduced risk of heart failure hospitalization or death by over 40% 📉 ⚖️ No meaningful difference between the two agents. 🧠 Findings reinforce STEP-HFpEF & SUMMIT trials and highlight GLP-1 therapies’ expanding role in cardiometabolic HFpEF 🫀 #Cardiology #HFpEF #GLP1 #Semaglutide #Tirzepatide #T2DM #RealWorldEvidence #JAMA #HeartFailure
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The AMALFI AF Screening Trial-📈 Atrial Fibrillation Unmasked: A Modest Win for Mailed Monitors
Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'
📢 Just read the #AMALFI trial in JAMA 📰 — a landmark remote RCT of AF screening using 14-day ECG patches mailed to older adults at stroke risk 📦🫀. At 2.5 years, the patch group had a modestly higher AF detection rate (6.8% vs 5.4%, p=0.03) and increased anticoagulation use 💊🧠. Stroke rates were similar ⚖️. 🎯 Key takeaway: Remote, mail-based AF screening is feasible and nudges diagnosis rates — but will it move the needle on outcomes? #AFib #StrokePrevention #RemoteMonitoring #ECG #Cardiology #RCT #JAMA #DigitalHealth #Geriatrics 🧓📉
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🛑 AFib Gone, OAC Gone? ALONE-AF Challenges Lifelong Therapy
Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'
🚨 New Trial Alert 🚨 Can we safely stop anticoagulation after AF ablation? The ALONE-AF Trial 🫀 suggests yes—in selected patients with no AF recurrence, stopping DOACs reduced major bleeding 🌟 without increasing stroke risk 🧠. 📉 0.3% vs 2.2% for the composite outcome (P = .02) 📍 Carefully monitored, low-risk patients may benefit most. 📝 Editorial: Recommends shared decision-making 🤝 & individualized rhythm monitoring. 📚 A potential shift in post-ablation care. 🔗 #AFib #Anticoagulation #EPTrials #CardioTwitter #StrokePrevention #JAMA...
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🦠💔Bugged After the Heartbreak? Does H. pylori Screening After MI Prevent GI Bleeds?
Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'
🚨 New Findings from the HELP-MI Trial! 🇸🇪🧪 Can routine Helicobacter pylori screening during acute myocardial infarction (MI) hospitalization prevent upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB)? 💉 Over 18,000 patients across 35 Swedish hospitals 📉 Result: No significant reduction in UGIB overall (RR 0.90; P=0.18) 🔍 BUT: Clear benefit in patients with anemia (RR 0.44–0.64) and chronic kidney disease (RR 0.75) 🧠 Key Takeaway: Routine screening isn’t broadly warranted—but targeted testing in high-risk AMI patients may be the smarter path forward. 📊...
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🧬 Risk, Recurrence, Relief: Apixaban’s Edge in VTE 🌡️ Emphasizes the risk stratification, recurrence data, and therapeutic benefit
Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'
🩺 New Insights on Apixaban for VTE! 📢 The HI-PRO trial challenges the old 3-month rule for provoked VTE. 📉 Extended low-dose apixaban (2.5 mg BID) reduced recurrent VTE from 10.0% ➡️ 1.3% with minimal major bleeding. 🎯 Editorial in NEJM urges a shift from binary labels (“provoked vs unprovoked”) to a patient-centered, risk-adapted approach. 🧠 Art meets evidence in the decision to extend anticoagulation. 💬 Let’s rethink how we label, risk-stratify, and treat. 📚 #VTE #Apixaban #Anticoagulation #NEJM #HI_PRO #Thrombosis #PrecisionMedicine...
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Dr RR Baliga's Philosophical Discourses: Zhu Xi (China, 1130–1200 CE) – Neo-Confucian Philosopher
Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'
🌏 Zhu Xi (1130–1200), a master of Neo-Confucianism, reshaped Chinese philosophy with his focus on rationality, self-cultivation & education. His commentaries on the Four Books guided civil service exams for centuries across East Asia. 📚✨ #Leadership #Philosophy #History #Confucianism
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Gait Speed. Grip Strength. Greater Life. 🦵🤝🌟 A Paradigm Shift in Cardiovascular Recovery for Seniors
Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'
Just read the latest from NEJM? The PIpELINe Trial 🇮🇹 changes how we approach cardiac rehab in older adults post-MI! 🧓❤️ 🎯 A 12-month, multidomain intervention — risk factor control, nutrition 🥗, and Otago-based exercise 👟 — cut CV death/hospitalization from 20.6% → 12.6% (P=0.01)! 📉 Hospitalizations for heart failure dropped 7.1% → 1.5%. No serious adverse events. And yes — better gait speed, handgrip strength, and quality of life too. This is how we shift from survival ➡️ functional independence in aging populations. 🙌 👇 Would you apply this model...
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💊 Block. Beat. Benefit. The Hidden Strength of β-Blockers Post-MI
Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'
🚨 New Meta-Analysis Alert! 💊🫀 Can β-blockers benefit patients post-MI with mildly reduced ejection fraction (LVEF 40–49%)? 📊 An individual patient data meta-analysis (REBOOT, BETAMI, DANBLOCK, CAPITAL-RCT) shows a 25% reduction in the composite outcome of death, MI, or HF with β-blockers vs. control (HR 0.75; p=0.031) — even in the absence of clinical heart failure. 🌍 Consistent across trials and countries. Most benefit seen in patients <75 years. 📚 This could shift guidelines for a large overlooked population. 🔗 Read more in The Lancet (Aug...
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🧠 REBOOTing Beta-Blockers – No Gains ⚖️ After Modern MI 💔
Dr. Baliga's 'Podkasts for Curious Docs'
🚫💊 Should We Rethink Beta-Blockers Post-MI? In the landmark REBOOT trial (NEJM, 2025), beta-blockers failed to reduce mortality, reinfarction, or heart failure hospitalizations in post-MI patients with preserved ejection fraction (>40%). 💡 A modern, pragmatic trial across 109 centers (Spain + Italy 🇪🇸🇮🇹) with 8438 patients — shaking the foundation of our long-held post-MI practices. 👩⚕️ Signals of potential harm in women and STEMI subgroups raise questions, not answers. 📉 Should guidelines change? Or should practice just evolve? #Cardiology...
info_outlineSummary: Cold-Related Deaths in the US (1999–2022)
1. Overview and Trends
• Cold-related deaths more than doubled over the study period.
• 40,079 deaths recorded; age-adjusted mortality rate (AAMR) rose from 0.44 (1999) to 0.92 (2022) per 100,000 population (109% increase).
• A significant upward trend began in 2017, with an annual percentage change (APC) of 12.1%.
2. Demographic Insights
• Age: Mortality was highest among individuals aged ≥75 years (4.23/100,000 in 2022).
• Largest Increase: Adults aged 45–74 years experienced the steepest rise (APC: 4.8%).
• Gender: Males consistently exhibited higher mortality than females, although both increased significantly.
• Race/Ethnicity:
• Highest Rates: American Indian/Alaska Native populations (6.26/100,000).
• Fastest Growth: Hispanic populations (APC: 4.1%).
3. Regional Patterns
• Midwest: Highest mortality (1.41/100,000) and steepest increase (APC: 4.3%).
• Northeast: Recorded the smallest increase.
4. Public Health Implications
• Rising Deaths Despite Global Warming: Likely driven by extreme winter events, homelessness, and social isolation.
• At-Risk Populations: Older adults and marginalized communities face the greatest risk.
• Recommendations:
• Expand access to warming centers.
• Enhance community awareness of cold-related risks.
• Support research into climate change impacts on health.
Conclusion:
The sharp increase in cold-related mortality rates highlights the growing importance of climate-adaptive health strategies and targeted interventions for vulnerable populations.